Veteran production designer Anne Seibel shares where Emily goes next.
Emily is still in Paris. In the first half of Emily in Paris season four, the intrepid PR executive continues her march through the City of Light’s cobblestone streets like a Energizer bunny ensconced in clashing patterns. She just can’t help herself. As in season three, Emily and her merry band of cosmopolitans take their antics to places new as well as old, both in and out of Paris—Claude Monet’s home an hour outside the city in Giverny is one, three Michelin-starred haute restaurant L’Ambroisie another.
To get a working map of Emily’s Paris, we got on the phone with Emily in Paris production designer and real-life Parisian Anne Seibel. When we connected via Zoom, she sat in front of a fabulous Belle Epoque wallpaper and said, “I’m on holiday. My great-grandfather’s house in the South of France. It is raining and I cannot swim.” She’s worked on the show since the beginning, and in her fourth season has seen beloved haunts of hers from past episodes suddenly sprout lines out their doors. Other locals grow exasperated with all the commotion production brings, but she remains undeterred in her mission of showcasing the lovely city.
Below, Seibel shares the destinations on display in the show’s latest season.
Alfie (played by Lucien Laviscount) and Emily (Lily Collins) take in a game of tennis at Roland-Garros, the setting of a high-wire PR act for the latter
Did you have any dream locations that you’d had your eye on?
I really liked going to the museum where we did the big masquerade party—the Galerie-Musee Baccarat, which specializes in crystal and glass for whiskey and water and vases. It’s an old home with a grand staircase and beautiful chandeliers that were great to set a party around. It’s a very iconic place that reminds me of my grandmother and her collection, all this glass she had. It was amazing to go there in modern times and work with it. The exhibition of the crystal that they have there is quite interesting as well.
Stade Roland Garros was another, when Emily attended a match at the French Open. We went there with nobody in it, we actually walked on the court. We were originally supposed to film in it when it was actually Roland-Garros [the tournament] but the [writer’s] strike delayed us and so we had to rebuild the event.
Camille (Camille Razat) takes to a rowboat in the gardens of Monet’s home in Giverny, France, where she is hiding out from her friends and family following a nervous breakdown.
What about Monet’s garden, where Emily goes to find Camille and they both end up acting like bad tourists by falling into the pond?
This was quite a challenge because we changed the season of our series. Normally, the place is known for its flowers and gardens which are very beautiful, but we were there too early. If you look carefully, when Emily and Camille fight in the rowboats, the wisteria on the bridge is fake—I had to create a whole environment. With the help of the gardeners, we were able to make believe. It looks very beautiful but it didn’t look like that when we were filming. We made it look the way that it does in spring and summer, and you can’t tell the difference.
When you walk along the Seine, you see all of these wonderful houseboats—how did you choose the one for Luc to live in?
Well, we walked along the Seine just like you! And we found the one that we liked the most. We were a bit scared—the night before shooting, there was some burglar that wanted to intrude and they burned the side of the boat. It didn’t show much for our shoot, but the day after we filmed they came back and really burned up the boat. I don’t know why they did that—I don’t know what you call it, vandalisme!
Speaking of Luc, can you talk about the restaurant he takes Sylvie to to ask her for a raise?
Yes, that is on Places de Vosges. That’s a real place called L’Ambroisie, and nobody else had filmed there before which I liked. They have this nice wall of mirrors, that’s a nice detail of the restaurant. We didn’t get to eat there that night, it’s not the kind of place you can go everyday. The food is very good, is all I can say. Darren [Starr] is very keen on places like that, and he really loves food. You will see nice restaurants that they have tried in the show.
Emily and Gabriel (Lucas Bravo) enjoy some quality friends with industry friends of Gabriel at an after-hours Bouillon Chartier.
What about the other restaurants that feature this season?
Lots of the old brasseries of Paris, the best restaurants in Paris. Bouillon Chartier is an old restaurant that opened in 1896, that used to be very cheap so that working people could eat there. There are a couple locations now. It’s one of the best cheap menus, and it hasn’t lost its charm. It was a good place to have Gabriel introduce Emily to his chef friends and have them sitting smoking and playing drinking games after hours. They’re not even eating, if I recall correctly. Carette is the typical French tea shop. The wine tasting is at Lapérouse, beautiful place to sit. Also, Brasserie Lutetia!
Can you tell me about the flea market that Cami and Sofia visit to furnish their apartment?
It’s the Saint-Antoine flea market, the iconic flea market of Paris. It’s funny, I’ve filmed there twice now. The first time was for Midnight in Paris. We could not buy out all of the shops to film with, so we bought out some and dressed the others, brought in other antiques to replace the real antiques! We also set up a little shopping scene in Galeries Lafayette, which is more of a department store, like the French Harrods. Beautiful, beautiful old-fashioned gallery.
To close, tell me about the square where Emily and Gabriel live?
It’s quite difficult for us to film at Place de l’Estrapade, since they are a bit upset with us after all this time. There are so many tourists coming to shoot themselves in front of the restaurant and boulangerie. But they are making a fortune now, the shops on the square!
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